Worcester lawyer can’t sue newspaper

A lawyer’s lawsuit complaining that a newspaper depicted him as a “birther” and a “dope” has been dismissed.

Attorney Robert Delle sued the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for libel citing two separate articles. One was by columnist Clive McFarlane who, according to Delle, had engaged in a “confrontational” 30-second phone conversation before penning an article called “Birther’s True Colors Showing.” The article indicated that Delle doubted the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate and thought that the president is a Muslim. It went on to state that “this birther movement is mostly about the president’s race.”

In his lawsuit Delle denies that he is a “birther” who thinks Obama is a Muslim and complained that the column depicted him as hating and respecting people of color. According to Delle, he had told McFarlane that he could not reach any conclusions about the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate until he had a chance to study it.

The other article in question was a news story that referenced a lawsuit in which Delle was involved in counsel. In the comment section one reader opined that “there was no bigger dope than Delle.”

But Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder threw out the lawsuit, finding that any accusation of racism “centered on McFarlane’s interpretation” and was therefore protected speech.

The claim about the comment was rejected because federal law mandates that the newspaper “cannot be held liable for comments posted to its website,” said Kinder. Dalle’s allegation that a Telegram employee had posted the anonymous comment was “entirely devoid of detail or elaboration,” added Kinder.